Brisbane artist and songwriter Kate Dillon has produced something singular and strange in Full Flower Moon Band. Part soundtrack, part image-based monologue, and part druggy synth dance, her debut single Street is paranoid, occasionally nightmarish electro. Vocals creep under soundscapes at a whisper, reverb tails rush into street noise, and drum machines and keyboards drone and menace the listener. Despite the disparate settings, Dillon underpin everything with dark pop sensibilities, warped electronica, and the whole thing works.
Street is a daring and psychedelic bit of electro pop. Her debut EP Chinatown promises a weird headphone trip. We caught up with Kate Dillon to discuss the release and the origins of the band.
Happy: How did the band start?
Kate: The band started in 2012. I met a guitarist from California. We moved into a house together and I started writing the songs for Chinatown. I am inspired by the need to understand the world and a need to express myself and my very large ego.
Happy: What do you call your music? Because there’s some soundtrack weirdness in there that sounds a bit like Dario Argento’s horror scores, or Sergio Leone at times.
Kate: I’ve never heard of Sergio Leone or Dario Argento but when I get the internet I will definitely look that up, because I like the fact that you mentioned horror scores. I’ve never even thought of horror scores, umm except Johnny Greenwoods soundtrack for There Will Be Blood.
Happy: What do you think of Australian pop and alternative music right now?
Kate: I have heard of pop music. I think it’s really fashionable right now to be like, ‘Oh I just want to write pop music’. I don’t just want to make pop, but I do want to be popular. The local musicians I admire are Moses Gunn Collective. Because they are friends of mine I’ve been watching them make music for the past 7 years and I don’t know if it was deliberate or not, but they have created a community around them for the right reasons, and I’m really into that. I also really respect The Family Jordan because they are the only local band that I listen to regularly, but I actually don’t own any music in my iTunes, umm, so that might also be circumstantial – they happen to be the only band that my housemates are listening to, but I do actually really enjoy them. Internationally the artists that I admire are… I was going to make a joke here and be like – I really like Tame Impala. I do really like Tame Impala but the joke is that they are international. Haha. Congratulations.
Happy: What’s your ambition for the band?
Kate: My ambition for the band is to have a lot of members, and to be able to travel from city to city and just take my scores with me. I could do that, and have excellent musicians in Berlin and Melbourne, and take it from there.
Happy: What are some of the things about you that your fans should(n’t) know?
Kate: Well it’s 12:30 in the morning and I just finished what I think, in retrospect, was a manic cleaning spree. I got to the point of taking the fly screens of my windows and then I realised – It’s Friday night so… people are partying… so maybe it’s okay to make noise, but maybe it’s not okay to clean your fly screens because it’s a bit weird. (Laughs). Another interesting fact is that this is my first interview of any merit. I used to fake-interview myself all the time so that’s why I’m so good at this. Ummm… (Laughs). Thank you for having me on Happy, I hope you have a good time.
Well, that was strange. Strangely GOOD.
